The announcement today in a classy open letter to the fans of the New Jersey Devils by Mike "Doc" Emrick (he has a PhD in Communications from Bowling Green University where he also broadcast hockey for the first time) that he is giving up his two plus decade play-by-play gig with the club to concentrate on a less time demanding national slate exclusively with NBC and VS comes as no surprise to me as he is about to join me in the ranks of official "senior citizens" in a few days. (I entered that vaunted status last October.) Few if any other men in the game -- including players, if I may be as bold to say -- have worked harder or done more to help sell our glorious game to US sports fans over the past four decades then this mild mannered giant in his field.
Like so many hockey players, Doc came to the national hockey stage from a small farming community, a town called La Fontaine (pop 868). Ironically, however, it is not located in Canada or the US hockey belts of Minnesota, Michigan, New York, or New England, but instead in north central Indiana. His father was not a coach but the local high school's music teacher, and nobody played hockey anywhere close by. Doc grew up following not hockey, but instead was passionate about the baseball exploits of his still beloved Pittsburgh Pirates. (His doctoral dissertation was a study on announcing baseball.)
(UPDATE: Just talked to Doc on the phone ... he was at the Pirates game in Pittsburgh last night but they lost to his considerable distress. He did meet Clint Hurdle, the Pirates manager, in the clubhouse afterwards, however, who told Doc that he is a HUGE hockey fan.)
The many local and national honors he has garnered (including the Lester Patrick Award, Foster Hewitt Award, and this year becoming the first sportscaster to win a national Emmy for broadcasting hockey) since first speaking into a live mic well more than 3,000 hockey broadcasts ago all attest to his extraordinary skill at his craft and dedication to bringing the best of the game he loves to millions. But "Doc" is far more than just a great broadcaster, he is a great human being and friend to thousands.
I first met Doc during the Flyers' training camp in September, 1977, and over the more than a third of a century since then we have worked together hundreds of times both with the Flyers on cable (PRISM) and that club's various over the air stations, as well as on other TV outlets such as SportsChannel, MSG, FOX, ESPN, ABC, VS, and NBC as well as during his radio days with the AHL Maine Mariners in the late 1970's. I can truly say that I have had no closer friend in the game over that time than Doc. In addition to the countless hours we have spent together in various broadcast booths from coast to coast, there have been dinners at his home with his wife Joyce (whom I first met on the day Doc proposed to her in Portland, ME, in 1978), literally thousands of hours on the phone (many of those as he was unwinding after another broadcast and often from an airport while waiting to board yet another plane to head to the next city), sitting together in often hilarious pregame TV production meetings, and the annual exchange of birthday and Christmas gifts and greetings many of which somehow end up relating to SLAP SHOT, Monty Python, and most especially Fawlty Towers. (We NEVER mention the War, however.)
Mike "Doc" Emrick with the late Hall of Famer Frank Mathers and myself at Hersheypark Arena in 2002
For much of his time with the Devils, the grind of broadcasting up to one hundred games (including playoffs) in a season was especially strenuous for him as EVERY broadcast was a road game with all the tilts in New Jersey requiring a commute by plane from his home in Michigan. Add to that his many assignments on VS and NBC (including the Olympics every four years), the odd college hockey game he did for "relaxation", All Star games in the NHL and AHL (a league Doc still follows as closely as he did when he broadcast the Maine Mariners in the late 1970s), and four rounds of Stanley Cup action, kept him on the road constantly. (For instance in 2005-06, the year after the NHL lockout, he did a record 154 telecasts including the Olympics in Turin, Italy.) And having worked with Doc over so many years I can tell you that for every hour he spends on the air he has done many more hours of preparation the product of which are spread out in front of him in the form of copious notes, charts, and fact filled scorecards all carefully written in his distinctive script. Doc's philosophy is to have about ten times as much material ready to use as he expects that he will get in because there is no way to know in advance which 10% the events of the game will dictate as being appropriate. (And sometimes, like in a blow out or multiple overtime playoff game, he may actually end up needing it all!)
Although I have known and worked with Doc off and on for three plus decades, every time I have the privilege to do so again (in addition to my regular duties with the Flyers' telecasts I did three Flyer/Devils MSG games, five NBC games in Washington and Philadelphia, two games on VS, and the AHL All Star Game in Hershey with him last season) I am once again amazed and impressed not only by the shear skill, artistry, and extraordinary professionalism that he brings to every show, but also with the utter courtesy, humility, and consideration with which he treats everybody with whom he has contact during the course of the day from fans to star players and everyone in between. He not only knows the name of every elevator operator, press box attendant, security person, trainer, stick boy, player, press person (including many HockeyBuzz and other web bloggers), hockey writer, scout, and every other person in the countless rinks in both the NHL and many minor league cities as well, but has something personal to say to every one of them.
Often the first thing Doc will ask me when he calls after a game somewhere is to check the internet for the scores of favorite teams (such as the Hershey Bears) in the AHL as well as many in the ECHL and IHL. And as often as he can, Doc works that information into his next telecast because he knows that hockey is more than just NHL hockey. (He is also famous for recognizing on air the birthdays of whatever hockey persons past or present are celebrating their's that day.) At the request of myself (and doubtless others as well), he has also been a mentor to a number of young broadcasters just getting started in the business offering advice and guidance. (One of these is Joe O'Donnell who is now the play-by-play voice of the AHL Houston Aeros.) There is nobody more generous with his time in the game then Doc with helping replenish the ranks of broadcasters.
The stories I could tell about Doc and the impact he has had on both the game and thousands of people in it would literally fill a book, and perhaps I will write one. (I've already written seven.) I can't think of a more deserving subject of a biography from the media side of the game then Doc.
So congratulations, Doc, on a glorious hockey broadcasting career as a team play by play man. While the hockey fans of New Jersey and New York will be missing your calls several times a week throughout the season now, the national hockey audience will be the beneficiary as you will now be seen nationwide far more often calling our game as only you can.
With one more BIG drive after another!!!
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